Voracious DPC

Category: Music

  • Big Maybelle

    Big Maybelle

    I think about Big Maybelle a lot. A queen of rhythm & blues, gospel, jazz, and blues largely forgotten. She was the first person to record “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” Big Maybelle had big hits with “Gabbin’ Blues,” “Country Man,” and “Candy.”  There’s little footage of her performing live. In this clip from the…

  • The wondrous voices of Nadine Sierra and Pretty Yende. @pretty_yende_official and @nadine.sierra.

  • “I traveled around the 48, I learned a little something in every state.” -Carmen Taylor, “No More, No Less.” 1954.

    “I traveled around the 48, I learned a little something in every state.” -Carmen Taylor, “No More, No Less.” 1954.

    I just love this anthem of self assurance by Carmen Taylor. The energy fueled by the electric guitar on the song feels like a direct through line from Muddy Waters going electric in 1948 to Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry’s first hits in 1955.

  • Diamond Shines On

    Diamond Shines On

    Watching Diamond The Original feels like you’ve stumbled into the act of joyful creation. She is a rare jewel of a performer, living up to her stage name. Diamond sings and dances to music of her own beguiling creation on Tik Tok and YouTube. Her performances are a living spin on the quote, “You’ve got…

  • Weekend Playlist

    Weekend Playlist

    “The way I start a piece is that the materials turn me on . . . I find an object and then it hangs around and it hangs around before I get an idea on how to use it.” -Betye Saar, artist. Apollo Magazine interview, November 2019.

  • Starting Off the 70s with Mavis Staples

    Released in 1970, Mavis Staples’ “Only For the Lonely,” signaled the coming of a revolution in pop music where women artists would take center stage. They’d tell stories about their lives reflecting the cultural and political power they were beginning to realize. From Roberta Flack, Carole King, Aretha Franklin and Carly Simon to Joni Mitchell,…

  • Links For The Voracious

    “To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality.” -bell hooks, “Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics.” Are you an early-career writer from a community that’s underrepresented in publishing? The PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship is accepting applications through January 31, 2023. The…

  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe gave us rock n’ roll

    Visionary, innovator, and the original guitar god.

  • 5 Songs For The End of The Week

    Joy Oladokun has crafted a body of work full of beautiful melodies and deep meaning. Her songs inspire the desire to memorize every word so you can sing along. She has said, “My favorite artists are the ones you can believe every word they’re saying. And Tracy Chapman is literally a master class in that.”…

  • Links For The Voracious

    “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” –Mae C. Jemison Museum guards spend more time with an art museum’s collection than anyone else. The Baltimore Art Museum’s newest show, “Guarding the Art” is curated by 17 museum guards. Kellen Johnson describes the inspiration for the works he selected for the show. “Liner Notes For The…